roundtable: Commerce Secretary Ronald H. Brown to Visit Alexandria School

roundtable: Commerce Secretary Ronald H. Brown to Visit Alexandria School

Commerce Secretary Ronald H. Brown to Visit Alexandria School

DGARDNER@ntia.doc.gov
Tue, 12 Sep 1995 17:55:22 -0400 

Message-Id: <s055c9a5.063@ntia.doc.gov>
Date: Tue, 12 Sep 1995 17:55:22 -0400
From: DGARDNER@ntia.doc.gov
To: roundtable@cni.org
Subject:  Commerce Secretary Ronald H. Brown to Visit Alexandria School


For Immediate Release:                 Contact:  Carol Hamilton
September 11, 1995                               (202) 482-4883
                                                   Paige Darden
                                                 (202) 482-1551 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE RELEASE

*****MEDIA ADVISORY*****

SECRETARY OF COMMERCE RONALD H. BROWN TO VISIT MT. VERNON
COMMUNITY SCHOOL IN ALEXANDRIA, VA ON WEDNESDAY,
SEPTEMBER 13

WASHINGTON, DC -- As part of the Clinton Administration's efforts to
stress the importance of education, Secretary of Commerce Ronald H.
Brown will visit Mt. Vernon Community School on Wednesday,
September 13 at 10:00 a.m.  During the visit, 3rd and 4th grade students
will show Secretary Brown how they are using the information superhighway 
to enhance their course studies.  Via the Internet, the students will 
create a document and send it to other schools in the district for 
comments; visit a site called KidPub -- an area where children can 
communicate with other children from around the world; and using
Netscape, the students will visit sites on the Internet that they have
incorporated into their classroom work.  They will see volcanoes in
Hawaii, museums and art treasures from around the world, and look at
pictures from the Hubble Space Telescope.  Secretary Brown will tour
the school's computer center and will make short remarks.  He will be
accompanied by Larry Irving, assistant secretary of Commerce for
Communications and Information and administrator of the National
Telecommunications and Information Administration.  Participants include
the Mayor of Alexandria, the Superintendent of Schools, City Council and
School Board Members, and members of the community who have been
involved in the Department of Commerce-funded project that has
encouraged the use of advanced telecommunications technologies in
Northern Virginia classrooms.  Media are invited to accompany Secretary
Brown; please RSVP to Paige Darden, NTIA Office of Public Affairs, at
202-482-1551.  

BACKGROUND:

     Mount Vernon Community School's Internet access was made
possible through a grant the Department of Commerce gave to George
Mason University in October 1994.  The Department awarded George
Mason University's Institute of Public Policy a grant of $350,000 to
provide Internet access and training to nearly 3000 elementary and 
secondary students in the Northern Virginia area.  In addition, the 
project is providing Internet access to nearly 200 rural Virginia 
households.  Among the project's successes thus far, are the first 
implementation of wireless bridge technology for public schools -- this 
technology has been adopted by other school districts across the country; 
serving as a catalyst for the development of three Internet service 
providers in a rural area including one established by a student at 
the local high school; the creation of the City of Alexandria Home Page 
as well as home pages for three Northern Virginia public schools; and 
providing one of the first direct, networked Internet connections for 
schools in the region.

     The grant was provided through the National Telecommunications
and Information Administration's Telecommunications and Information
Infrastructure Assistance Program (NTIA/TIIAP).  The program is a 
Clinton Administration initiative designed to help jump start the 
public sector's involvement in the information superhighway by offering 
matching grants to non-profit organizations.  In its first year, the 
program gave 92 grants in 48 states totalling $24.4 million.  The 
recipients included schools, health care organizations, museums, public 
safety organizations and state and local governments.  The second year 
funds (Fiscal Year 1995) will be awarded in mid-October.  Grant requests 
have been received from over 1800 organizations across the country. 
Funding for these grants is threatened on Capitol Hill due to action in 
the Senate Commerce, State, Justice Appropriations subcommittee which 
voted on Thursday September 7 to rescind nearly all of the FY95 funds 
and to zero out the program in 1996.

     The Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and
Information Administration serves as principal advisor to the President,
Vice President, and Secretary of Commerce on domestic and international 
telecommunications policies.  Information about NTIA and the Clinton 
Administration's National Information Infrastructure initiative, 
commonly known as the information superhighway, is available on the
Internet:  ftp.ntia.doc.gov, gopher.ntia.doc.gov, and 
http://www.ntia.doc.gov.  

###

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